Why Princess Diana Mattered

“Diana was ‘the People’s Princess.’ She started out really shy and bashful. She was only 20 when she married Prince Charles and more or less grew up in the public eye. Everyone watched as she grew from a girl, into a lady, and became a mother. Her fairytale marriage was derailed when Charles started his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles. Pretty much no one liked Camilla except Charles. Diana, now mother of two, was humiliated. Everyone loved Diana and hated Camilla. During her marriage, her title was Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales. After her divorce, she appealed to retain her title and lost, instead becoming Diana, Princess of Wales. Her son, Prince William, is reported as saying ‘Don’t worry, Mummy, I will give it back to you one day when I am King.’ Diana really started thriving after her divorce. She was able to shed the stuffy royal costume. She actively campaigned again landmines. When she met John Travolta at the White House, she asked if she could dance with him. Paparazzi caught her sunbathing topless. That is, Diana had grown up into a beautiful and accessible woman. She shook her royal matronly look, blossomed into a beautiful and outgoing woman, and set out to do good things in the world. The queen hated this. So there was this rift between Diana and the Royal family. She had pretty much been shut out and treated like crap, and when she moved on with her life, they resented her. The people sided with The People’s Princess. I remember after Diana was killed, the Queen barely acknowledged her. There was a lot of public pressure for the Queen to say something, and it took almost a week. The queen didn’t speak to Diana’s passing until the day before her funeral. There are conspiracy theories that the queen is even behind Diana’s death. In the end, she was bestowed the title ‘Diana, Queen of Hearts.’